Insult vs Provoke - What's the difference?
insult | provoke |
(obsolete) To behave in an obnoxious and superior manner (over, against).
*, II.3.3:
To offend (someone) by being rude, insensitive or insolent; to demean or affront (someone).
(obsolete) To leap or trample upon; to make a sudden onset upon.
An action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude.
* Savage
* 1987 , Jamie Lee Curtis, A Fish Called Wanda :
Anything that causes offence/offense, e.g. by being of an unacceptable quality.
(medicine) Something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes.
* 2006 , Stephen G. Lomber, Jos J. Eggermont, Reprogramming the Cerebral Cortex (page 415)
* 2011 , Terence Allen and Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction , Oxford 2011, p. 96:
(obsolete) The act of leaping on; onset; attack.
to cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
* Bible, Eph. vi. 4
to bring about a reaction.
* J. Burroughs
*{{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=November 12
, author=
, title=International friendly: England 1-0 Spain
, work=BBC Sport
(obsolete) To appeal.
In lang=en terms the difference between insult and provoke
is that insult is to offend (someone) by being rude, insensitive or insolent; to demean or affront (someone) while provoke is to bring about a reaction.In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between insult and provoke
is that insult is (obsolete) the act of leaping on; onset; attack while provoke is (obsolete) to appeal .As verbs the difference between insult and provoke
is that insult is (obsolete|intransitive) to behave in an obnoxious and superior manner (over, against) while provoke is to cause someone to become annoyed or angry.As a noun insult
is an action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude.insult
English
Verb
(en verb)- thou hast lost all, poor thou art, dejected, in pain of body, grief of mind, thine enemies insult over thee, thou art as bad as Job […].
- (Shakespeare)
Synonyms
* (to offend) abuse, affront, offend, slight * See alsoAntonyms
*complimentNoun
(en noun)- the ruthless sneer that insult adds to grief
- To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people!
- The way the orchestra performed tonight was an insult to my ears.
- Within the complex genome of most organisms there are alternative multiple pathways of proteins which can help the individual cell survive a variety of insults , for example radiation, toxic chemicals, heat, excessive or reduced oxygen.
- (Dryden)
Synonyms
* (deliberatedly intended to be rude) abuse (uncountable), affront, offence (UK)/offense (US), pejorative, slam, slight, slur * (thing causing offence by being of unacceptable quality) disgrace, outrage * See alsoAntonyms
*complimentAnagrams
* * English heteronymsprovoke
English
Verb
(provok)- Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.
- Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.
- To the poet the meaning is what he pleases to make it, what it provokes in his own soul.
citation, page= , passage=Spain were provoked into a response and Villa almost provided a swift equaliser when he rounded Hart but found the angle too acute and could only hit the side-netting.}}
- (Dryden)
